There are many scenarios where you need to deploy multiple instances of the same resource type multiple times. For example, this could be multiple Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts. You wouldn't want to draw 100 individual session hosts! Instead, you would want to draw one and let Cloud Maker do the rest. Enter the Multiple Instances container.
To use the Multiple Instances container, find it under the Operations category in the droplet panel, or simply search for it using the droplet search capability.
Once dragged and dropped onto your diagram. Add the droplets you wish to have multiple instances of. For example, using a Multiple Instance container for session hosts.
Once placed, and the droplets you wish to create multiple instances of are positioned inside the multiple instances container, you can then configure the multiple instances container properties.
With the multiple instances container selected, open the properties panel. You can then give the container a name and enter the number of instances you require.
The multiple instances container will automatically use the default index for the name of the droplets being deployed inside the multiple instances container. For instance, 10 instances of a Session Host droplet called MySessionHost would result in the following names being generated:
MySessionHost1, MySessionHost2, MysessionHost3 ... etc.
In some cases, you may need to create a custom index where the property must start indexing from a different starting number. To do this, select the Custom Indexes node on the Multiple Instances properties.
Then click Add new custom index and give it a name e.g. IpAddress
Finally, set the custom index starting index number e.g. 10
You can then use this custom index when configuring the properties of the droplet in the multiple instances container. For example to use the IPAddress custom index on the MySessionHost network configuration, navigate to:
MySessionHost -> Network Profile -> Network Interfaces - Network Interface 1 -> Network Interface -> IP Configurations -> Config1
Select the ellipses menu and click Use expression value.
In the expression builder type: 10.0.0.
Then in the search input, type IPAddress and select [Instance Container Name].Customer Indexes.[My Custom Index Name].Index
Cloud Maker will then utilise the custom index for the IP address property of the Session Host. For example:
10.0.0.10, 10.0.0.11, 10.0.0.12 ... etc
Support
If you need any support using Multiple Instances or have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out using the in-app chat or email us at [email protected]